Waiting For You
by TheCounselor
Summary: During his childhood, Loki had a childhood friend. They were as inseparable as any friends are, but that all ended when one day, Odin forced them apart. I welcome all constructive criticism, and I hope that you will all be entertained by my story.
1. Chapter 1

This is a story with fictional characters with names from Norse Mythology. They are NOT the Norse legends, they only share the name. Also, this first chapter is told in the point of view of my OC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, or anything related, I only own my OCs.

I remember it like it was yesterday—the day that I met Loki. I was only a small child at the time, as was he. We had met in the garden; I was there because my father was there speaking with Odin about what moves to make against enemies in a minor battle located on Midgard; and my mother was with Frigga, the two of them did little more than laugh and gossip lightly with one another.

I had been walking around the royal garden, looking at all the beautiful flowers that were constantly filling the Asgardian garden. Just as I rounded the corner of a rose bush, I ended up colliding into a slightly smaller figure; the force of the collision sent the both of us to the ground. I landed with a grunt and he landed with a squeak. When I had looked back up, my eyes fell onto Loki's face; they widened when I saw that he was silently sobbing and looked hurt and affronted.

"I'm sorry!" I had exclaimed loudly while jumping up and running over to the small boy. "Are you all right?! Have I hurt you?" I had begun to panic and to flail my arms as I checked the tiny prince at my feet.

"Shut up, would you?" his voice shook horribly, though it was incredibly harsh in the tone all the while. I froze and stared as Loki glared at me. Something about his tone had been bothersome, and it caused me to frown at the raven haired boy.

"How can you be so rude?" I found my mouth moving before I could think to keep it shut and remain silent. A soundless groan filled my throat as I realized how much trouble I would most likely be in once my mother heard wind of my speaking back to a Prince of Asgard. But I noticed that Loki seemed to freeze at my words; he glared venomously at me. The look made me worry slightly and caused me to shrink into myself, ready to apologize quickly for speaking out of turn.

"I'm rude?!" He shrieked out angrily as he pointed at me accusingly from his spot on the ground. "You are the one to have run into me purposely!"

"Purposely?" I found myself interrupting, my voice thick with curiosity and confusion. "I did no such thing, Young Prince. I had merely been distracted by the beauty within this garden…I truly am sorry for having sent you to the ground, though…" sorrow filled my voice as I began to realize that this was not the first time that Loki had been injured so.

"For truth?" his voice sounded quietly as his emerald eyes scanned my face. I nodded silently at the boy, hoping he would believe my words to be the truth they were. When his body relaxed slightly, I knew that he had believed me; seeing it, a small and pleased smile made its way onto my face. Finally thinking that Loki and I had come to a truce of sorts, I held my hand out to help him up from the ground; his pride seemed too much, though, as he ignored the gesture and stood up on his own. I shrugged it off and stood by his side as he began to move about the garden; it was obvious that the tiny prince was beginning to grow annoyed with me but he was interesting and I felt no need to leave. Not soon after, though, Loki turned to me with a scowl, snarling, "Will you not leave me be?!"

"No," I chirped back, "I will not leave you to be by your lonesome." A smug grin appeared on my lips as I answered; I was quickly finding that Loki was incredibly fun to be around. The boy only glared at me sharply, though, and began to stalk away from me, but it was easy enough to keep with his pace.

It was a while later that Loki decided to simply stop and lay in the shade, blatantly ignoring me. The act did nothing to deter me as I sat beside him. Not soon after that, the elder prince came by with a few of his "friends;" both Loki and I stared at them uninterestedly as Thor stepped up and looked me over. My brows furrowed and my hands clenched into fists as the lackeys behind Thor began to sneer and taunt at Loki. It was rude and completely uncalled for!

"You are the new servant, then?" Thor questioned me. At that inquiry, confusion entered my mind before I looked down at myself and remembered that Father had made me wear my training clothes. My training clothes were no more than rags, peasant wear. With a small sigh, I looked back up to Thor and gave him a curt nod.

"I was assigned to be Prince Loki's personal servant." I announced blankly, giving the younger royal a side glance. "He is to do with me whatever he wishes." My sincere hope was that he would go along with the story as there was no way I would be able to convince Thor of my lineage in my current dress. The young prince looked to me with narrowed eyes for a short moment before he turned to Thor and his brother's companions, Loki then gave them a minute nod. Thor had looked at me with a pout before he spun and walked away, the group tailing after him. Loki then turned to me and glared.

"Why did you have me lie to my brother?" he growled defensively as he crossed his arms. I smiled at him and stepped close, leaning towards him until my mouth was next to his ear. As I made the move, Loki had tensed up and stared at me with wide, panicked eyes.

"Because I would much rather be by your side rather than his." I stated honestly. After that, I moved back and looked down at the slightly shorter child. He had stood there motionless for several minutes before his emerald orbs turned to meet my own.

"Do not lie to me…" Loki's voice wavered as he looked upon me with a mixture of joy, disbelief, hurt and anger. My heart ached with the thought that he assumed and believed my words to be no more than lies.

"My words are not lies!" my voice was filled with immense hurt for Loki. And the more I thought of how Loki had been continuously hurt for him to have such mistrust in another's words, tears were brought to my eyes and were soon streaming down my face. The anger filled me and added onto my overflow of emotions; I could do no more than sob heavily. Loki stared at me in disbelief, his emerald orbs flickered about in a panic, and soon he shuffled over to me.

"Stop it," he murmured sternly, his little hand reaching out for my own. His grasp was firm, but also comforting and gentle. "Crying is unbecoming of you. It makes your moth appear far too large for your face."

"You are cruel," I stated, though slight giggles escaped my throat as I raised my free hand to my face and rubbed at my eyes in an attempt to dry them. "You are not supposed to say such things to a young maiden." Loki's mouth pursed in thought, and through the fog of my tears I could see that the young royal was looking me over. A wobbly, wet smile came to my lips as I muttered, "Yes, I know…I look not the part of a young, fair maiden at the moment, do I?"

I sniffled pathetically and rubbed further at my eyes to dry them, and gazed at Loki. He was looking at me with an unreadable expression adorning his features; his hand squeezed mine more and sent a wave of comfort through me. Without a word, he began to walk me towards the inside of the Asgardian castle, and I found myself following. It was soon after that Loki walked me to where his mother and my own were sitting and chatting; when he had us enter the room, the young prince caught the attention of both women.

"Loki, dear," Frigga breathed curiously as she gazed at the two of us, "What are you doing here?" at the same time, my mother looked at us. When she focused on me, she heaved a baleful sigh.

"I leave it to your father to bring you here, and he brings you dressed in such a fashion!" she shook her head and moved to put a hand on her cheek as she came to stand. Once she was on her feet, my mother stepped over to me; I saw that when those words had left her mouth that Loki fixated wide, bright eyes onto her.

"That is why I came here," he stated confidently, both women looked to him, then to one another, and finally to me. "She wishes to be dressed as a girl."

"Oh, Darling!" My mother breathed mournfully as she stepped in front of me; she bent and picked me up gently. She held me protectively to her chest; reluctantly, I released Loki's hand and moved my arms to wrap them around my mother's neck. I laid my head down on her shoulder though I kept my gaze on Loki. Mother huffed, "I knew I never should have let Vidar bring you here after training. He always does this."

"Dagny, I have dresses that she would be able to have." Frigga murmured softly as she approached the other woman. "I have many dresses that I have bought to give as future gifts. Feel free to take one now."

At that moment, my mother gave Frigga a grateful smile and let the queen lead her to said dresses; all the while that the women walked, Loki was right there. He watched and he waited. As we were about to enter the closet, Loki gave me a look and stopped at the doors. With my mother, the queen and I in the large room full of dresses, the two women began to titter and chat to one another. Mother had put me down on the floor and I shuffled to walk up to a small cushioned stool. While they looked through most of the more complicated and intricate gowns that Frigga had in her possession, my eye was caught by a golden, though rather simply beautiful dress.

"Mother…" my voice sounded weakly, though it caught the attention of both women. The duo stepped over to me, and my mother knelt down by my side swiftly as she questioned what it was that I needed from her. I then pointed at what had piqued my interest and muttered, "Can I wear that dress, Mother?"

Their eyes followed my finger and upon looking at the article of clothing, both women gazed at each other and then to me before soft, affectionate smiles adorned their lips. They made to move towards the gown; soon enough, the pair had me out of my training clothes and into the golden beauty before I could even manage to blink, it seemed. The moment after the garment was upon my person, Mother and Frigga lead me out of the room and to Loki, cooing all the way as they did so.

I found myself staring into emerald pools the moment I left the dressing room and I was unable to break contact. The longer our eyes were locked, the more heat I felt rising to my face. My hands moved to grasp hold of handfuls of the cloth, and my lips tightened into a line as I thought of how ridiculous I must have appeared in the clothing.

Apparently my doubt in my appearance was making itself known in my features because the next thing I knew, Loki had stepped forward, grabbed my hand and leaned close to me. I gazed searchingly at his face and was near asking him what he was meaning to do when the young prince gently pressed a sweet, innocent kiss to my lips. My body stiffened and my eyes were blown wide open with shock, and all the while Frigga and Mother were fawning over the act. When Loki pulled back and looked at me expectantly, I could only remain frozen and look to the boy in question.

"Brother!" Thor's voice sounded through the corridor, the boy's voice was filled with young rage. Both mine and Loki's eyes were turned to gaze upon Thor; I could only feel myself blushing horribly and I moved to stand closer to my mother. Loki glared lightly as Thor began to march up to us, as the blond got closer, my eyes flickered between the brothers. I has a horrid, sinking feeling that something was very near to happening. Soon enough, Thor stopped his rage march in front of Loki and stared down at his younger brother; the blonde's face was a ruddy red.

"May I be able to help you, Brother?" Loki hissed lightly while crossing his arms defiantly.

"You most certainly can!" his young voice roared, and I found myself looking to the doorway and found that Father and Odin were making their ways into the corridor, the both of them were watching with interest. Thor turned and pointed a finger in my face, "How can you lower yourself to being with a servant? You can do much better than her, Loki!"

As the young prince continued yelling, I found myself turning from nervous to angry and every word that left his mouth. Behind me, I could hear Mother and the queen gasping in astonishment at the tone that Thor was taking with me. It was very quick in happening, at one moment both brothers were only growling at each other and with the next, the two were involved in an absolutely horrid shouting match. I found myself watching the two warily; it was no secret that Thor was a boy that tended to react violently when angered. With that in mind, I was fearful of even blinking, thoughts of fear and uncertainty ran through my mind and in one short moment, as Thor made a move that I had quickly deemed unsafe, I found myself lunging between the duo.

Sharp heat exploded throughout my face on the left side, and I found myself stumbling back slightly. Small tears collected in my eyes as I realized that when Thor has punched me, I had bitten down on the inside of my mouth. Blood hit my taste buds and as I made moves to swallow. I looked up to see that Thro was gazing upon me with a bit of shock splashed upon his features; it was only a small moment before newly formed rage once again overtook his face.

"How dare you do that!" Thor screamed as he drew his fist back once again to lash out. My eyes narrowed, and Father's training came to mind as my body acted on instinct; as the young prince's fist came close to me, my hand went up and caught his. When he attempted to punch me with his other hand, the same thing occurred; at that moment, Thor obviously had no clue of what to do. Upon seeing that expression, I found myself smirking triumphantly; I slowly reared my head back as far as I could while keeping a grip on Thor's hands, and then slammed my head forward into his own. I heard a wet crunch when my forehead met Thor's nose, and as soon as the sound met my ears, my grip loosened allowing Thor's hand to drop from my own. I stepped back to survey my work and found the first prince kneeling on the ground, holding how, now heavily, bleeding nose.

Just after that, I heard my father burst out in laughter as he made his way to my side. Not far behind him, my mother was storming towards my location; upon hearing the urgency with which she stepped, I knew I was in more trouble than I had ever before been in. When Father reached me, he lifted me onto his hip with my face looking at his own; his face was contorted with amusement, pride, and joy. His calloused fingers gently prodded at the tender skin on my cheek and forehead.

"You make me proud, my Little Warrior!" his deep voice boomed like a rock slide. I could do nothing but preen at the praise, though that was brought to an abrupt end when Mother took me from his arms. She instantly began to fuss over my bleeding mouth and bruised forehead.

"Is she in good health?" Loki's little voice cut through tall the side chatter and my gaze went to the direction from which I heard it. There he stood, silent and concerned; his emerald orbs were shining brightly.

"I am fine," I answered with a wide grin; no matter the trouble that would come afterward, there was no way that my victory over the Heir of Asgard would be dulled. But that did not mean that Thor would not attempt to get a few last jabs in to try to recover a bit of his pride.

"How could you, Loki?" his muffled voice spat, "How could you let a servant girl protect you in such a fashion? Are you not royalty?!" as he continued to spit insult after insult at Loki, fury bubbled in my stomach.

"How _**dare**_ you!" I hissed and squirmed, silently telling Mother to put me down on the ground. Once my feet were solidly upon the earth, I stomped forward. "Are_** you**_ not his brother? Yet you threaten him with bodily harm?! And were you not there when it was earlier proclaimed that I was Loki's to do with which he pleased? Obviously you were, seeing as how you only remember the title that I spit out! But do you truly know the position of a servant to a royal?"

"To serve us, of course!" he snarled, removing his hand from his nose. Thor sent me a horrific snarl.

"That, and to _**protect**_, no matter the circumstance!" I snapped, crossing my arms. Then, a tiny inkling of doubt flooded through me and I turned to Father. "That is correct, right, Papa?"

"Of course, Little Warrior!" he laughed heartily and grinned down proudly at me. Beside him, my mother had warring expressions before she turned an apologetic gaze to both Odin and Frigga. I looked sadly to my mother and focused my gaze onto the floor.

"Mother…" I murmured, looking up to her helplessly, "Do you wish for me to apologize?" I scanned her features carefully, waiting to find out the answer to my question. A moment before Mother was about to answer, Frigga's voice cut through the air.

"You have naught to apologize for, Child…" she stated while stepping forward. Thor looked at his mother with a scandalized expression; he stammered and whined that she had "taken the enemies' side," but Frigga ignored her child and approached me. "I thank you for your courage against our foolish prince. Maybe, you have taught him some humility."

"Aye," Odin chortled as he stepped up beside his wife, "Though, I do believe that he has learned some sort of lesson from his defeat."

It was soon after that the adults went on to speak amongst themselves. I then turned to both of the princes and uncertainly straightened the dress that I had worn; slowly, I made my way up to them and then curtsied unsteadily.

"I apologize to the both for one thing, and one thing alone," I spoke strictly and seriously as I looked upon the both of them. They stared back, both pairs of eyes locked widely upon me. "I give you my apologies for having left my name in the shadows, but I turn the light to it now when I announce that I am Nanna Vidardottir, daughter of Vidar the Forest Warrior!" once my introduction was over, Thor was pulled away to go to the healers, leaving Loki alone in my presence. While we stood there, I felt heat grace my face once again the longer he gazed at me, and soon enough I found myself stuttering, "W-why do you gaze at me so?"

"I have made my decision." He stated simply as he looked upon me happily, "I have decided that you will be my queen when I rule with Thor in the future."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and my OCs. Please enjoy!

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Years after their first meeting, Loki and Nanna had grown closer and tended to keep with each other rather than Thor, the Warriors Three and Sif. Over the years, they had bonded over pranks pulled against the heir of Asgard; most through Loki's planning and skills in the art of morphing the truth, and Nanna's strength and determination. By the time they were to be able to be compared to a Midgardian thirteen year old, the duo had taken to more mature acts of mischief; in a world that saw them as adults—childish games were no longer accepted. But the views of others made no dent in the amount of amusement the duo could find within one another.

On the morning of Loki's day of coming of age, Nanna was running around her home looking for a wrapping for the gift that she had specially made for Loki. On this day, he was to swear loyalty to his the Allfather and join the ranks of manhood. Nanna was ecstatic for her friend, he had always been waiting for this day—more so ever since Thor was recognized as a man not two years before.

"Nanna," Dagny called from the foyer of their home, "Are you nearly ready?"

"Almost! I just need to find something to wrap my gift with!" Nanna replied loudly; her mother stood in the entrance hall and grinned. It was rare for her daughter to take such care with something, but Dagny had known for quite some time that her daughter had a soft spot for the youngest prince.

Not long after, Nanna came running down the stairs with a cloth covered parcel. The cloth was emerald silk and wrapped around the gift rather elegantly for something that Nanna had done in just moments. The gown that Nanna wore was the same shade of green, and it was rather flattering on her young body. Her fiery locks were left to run wild as they only reached a few inches past her shoulders; even now, after Dagny and Nanna had spent so much time attempting to tame it, the young girl's hair fell in a tousled fashion.

Nanna's parents stood at the door waiting for her; as she jogged up to the door, Nanna was gently scolded by her mother while her father stood beside the women laughing amusedly. After a few short moments, Vidar gave a cough and when the women's attention was on him, he gestured towards the carriage. Immediately, Nanna stormed towards the ride with her skirts hiked up to make sure she did not trip; her parents followed behind her with loving expressions painted upon their features.

It was not until dinner time that Nanna and her family arrived at Odin's castle. By that time, the redhead was basically jumping in her seat, and she was already attempting to climb out of the carriage just as it was beginning to slow down. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the grasp of her father on the bodice of her dress; Nanna looked back at him and gave an annoyed huff but sat and waited for the ride to come to a complete stop before she hopped down and ran for the inside of the palace.

Upon entering, Nanna saw that it was the chit-chat time that adults liked to have with others of their region before the dinners prior to being seated with others of their status and rank rather regional affiliation. Hazel eyes scanned the hall, searching a specific figure in the haze of strangers; when they finally locked on to the item of their quest, Nanna beamed thankfully.

The girl began to walk forward, her eyes still on her target, and longtime friend. But as the picture around him began to clear up, Nanna's smile slipped away with the fog. Loki was standing there and making light with Sif; Nanna had known for as long as she had been with Loki that the raven haired prince was fancied with the young woman. Nanna despised how hard Loki tried to change his character for the girl who would never want him—that wanted his brother rather than him.

She was the cause of many a small fight that Nanna and Loki had experienced. The grasp on the gift still in her hands tightened as Nanna thought back to all those fights; they had never been enjoyable and always made Nanna realize that she was too weak to protect Loki from himself. If only she were a stronger warrior, if she could beat Sif at one thing—anything—then maybe Loki would look at her that way.

When she realized the thoughts swarming around in her head, Nanna shook her head to clear her thoughts. The redhead took a deep breath before she made to move forward, but she was stopped when the clang of the dinner bell sounded through the hall. The young girl glared at the ceiling and swiftly made her way to a servant whom stood nearby.

"Can I ask a favor of you?" Nanna murmured to the older being. He looked down at her and gave a small smile while nodded that he could indeed perform a favor for the young noble. "Could you give this to Prince Loki? But I ask that you keep it a secret as to whom the gift is from."

"Of course, Milady." The servant bowed and went to walk away before he turned and inquired, "Is there anything else that I may to be of service?" Nanna looked up at him, shook her head and then smiled before she walked away to sit with her parents at the dining table.

At said table, Nanna sat and scowled as she listened to the pompous boys around her; this was the one thing that she hated about the parties thrown for the royalty, Nanna was never able to sit with Loki or any of her sparring friends. One too high on the social ladder, and the other too low. At that moment, just as the thought was leaving her head, the boy beside her turned to look at her.

"My, Lady Nanna…you sure have grown to be beautiful." When she heard those words, Nanna was a bit flattered but that was before he continued to speak, "I am pleasantly surprised to see that you have dropped those unattractive activities of your youth. Maybe now you could learn a bit more on the ways of being a noble woman."

"And you could learn the ways of being a sufficient flirt." Nanna snapped as her gazed locked onto the boy and the hazel of her eyes seemed to burn a molten gold. The boy shrank back and whimpered slightly as she continued, "You have no right to speak with me as if you know me…for instance, I have not quit 'those unattractive activities' that you speak of. Do not, ever, speak to me again with such an arrogant tone or with ignorance concerning my life."

The boy shrank away, as did some of the people surrounding him and Nanna. The redhead could not have cared less, though. People like those surrounding her were the bane of her existence; she never wanted to speak with any of them for the rest of her life. Nanna was sick of the boys that had always ridiculed her suddenly wanting to be her best friend in hopes of courting her.

With an aggravated sigh, the young noble looked to her plate and decided that she was going to eat her current emotions away until she came face to face with Loki. After that, Nanna savagely reached for the meat and potatoes that lay on the table. Vidar watched his daughter in amusement and with pride; he was happy that she had frightened the prissy boy off. Vidar absolutely hated when boys tried to court his daughter and could not accept what he had allowed her to do. His way of making it logical that the boys would want her to stop would be that they could not stand having a woman being able to defeat them rather amazingly in battle.

Beside Vidar, Dagny sat and sighed sadly. She knew who held her daughter's heart and wished that he would let it go for Nanna to be able to move forward in life; no matter what Frigga said, Dagny had no assumption that Loki and Nanna would end up together—not after all that her daughter had said of how Loki fond over Sif.

At the royal table, Loki sat and listened to the boasting of Thor and the Warriors Three; irritatingly enough, people seemed happier for Thor than they did for him. But that was always how it was, Loki was ignored in favor of the golden boy and usually that was tolerable because he had his best friend by his side, but at the moment she seemed absent from the whole affair. The raven haired prince sighed and poked at his food with disinterest. So far, the only highlight of the evening had been talking to Sif earlier.

Moments later, there was a commotion from another table to the left. Loki turned to glance and saw Nanna snarling at some boy seated next to her; his emerald gaze narrowed in on the boy. The only thing that kept the young prince from casting some sort of magic at the boy was the fact that Nanna had scared him away in a most amusing way. A smile worked its way onto his lips as Loki watched the redhead begin to eat away whatever was bothering her. That was something that Loki loved about Nanna, she always had some form of snack on her person to assist in keeping her emotions in check.

"Loki!" Thor's voice roared through from his spot at the table; the giant blond was merry and as annoying as ever. "Celebrate brother! You have received splendid gifts and many are happy for you!"

"Of course, Brother." Loki conceded, though when he turned his head from the blond, his lips dipped downward in a frown. "I have so much to celebrate…"

After the portion of the night that was spent on eating was done and over with, Loki stood and made his way over to Nanna's position in the room. Just as he was out of his seat and ready to walk over to his friend, a servant appeared and bowed in front of the raven haired prince.

"Young Lord, you have a gift yet to be opened." The man said as he kept his gaze on the floor and presented the parcel. Loki looked the item over suspiciously, though he was attracted to the fact it was his color. It was obvious that someone who knew him and his affinity to the color had made to give him the gift. With an airy sigh, Loki grabbed the parcel from the servant and quietly inquired as to whom it was from. "I'm afraid I've been asked to keep that information to myself, Young Lord."

"To yourself?" Loki mimicked incredulously, the very thought confused him. But at that moment, he began to think of the people who would get him anything. Emerald orbs zeroed in on Nanna only to widen upon realizing the girl was actually wearing a dress for once in her life when attending such a gathering. "Well, I know what Nan's gift to me was," Loki mumbled to himself with a smile as he subconsciously thought of how much he liked the redhead in his color. "But that would only leave one person left who has yet to get me anything for this day…"

Loki looked to Sif and blushed lightly when he saw that she was gazing at him, as well. The young man looked to see that Nanna was distracted by some of her training partners and took that as an opportunity to run over and thank Sif for her gift. The young prince did so, and was unaware that Nanna had ended her conversation and was on her way after him.

As the young noble made her way over, she saw that Loki was once again speaking with Sif, but there seemed to be something in his hands. Just as she got by his side, Nanna heard the lady warrior wave off a thank-you from Loki for the gift in his hands. Nanna stepped closer to examine it, and her insides froze when she saw that it was her gift.

"No," Loki continued, "I truly appreciate this."

"It is nothing, Loki." Sif replied, her tone awkward as she spoke. The redhead glared to the ground before she readied herself a mask. Stepping forward, Nanna looked down at Sif and asked what it was that she had gotten Loki. "Well, it's right there in his hands."

"Yes, but what is it that's wrapped in the cloth?" Nanna pressed, wanting so badly to prove that Sif was a horrid person just toying with Loki.

"Something he'd like, obviously." Sif waved off the question, though she turned her head to the side and avoided the young noble's gaze.

"What kind of something?" Nanna snapped before freezing and thinking quickly of any sort of way to cover her slip of emotion, "Y-you know that Loki likes to solve such mysteries! Why not try and clue us in, huh?"

Sif froze at that suggestion, though Loki glowed and seemed ready for the challenge of figuring out what was wrapped in his hands. The black haired warrior was about to say something when the bumbling blond oaf came to her rescue.

"Worry not, Nan!" Thor laughed as he slung an arm around Sif's and Loki's shoulders, "Surely, Lady Sif had gotten him something amazing!" Nanna's eyes darkened with hidden sorrow as she saw how Loki gave a small smile at both how Thor treated him purposefully lovingly for once, and how Sif had seemingly gotten him a present from the goodness of her heart.

It sickened Nanna to see how infatuated Loki was with the woman, but she gave a forced grin and replied, "Of, of course, Thor. But you know how I worry about you brother." The small group laughed at the redhead's words. Quickly after that, Nanna excused herself and headed to walk outside. By the time she hit the veranda doors, tears had worked their way down her cheeks and were dripping from her chin.

Nanna hated when she cried—she could not bring herself to let her sobs or heaving gasps be heard. She worked until she was trembling and her face was red to keep her sobbing to the quietest amount of noise possible. Nanna gave a heaving gasp as she attempted to breathe past her tears; the young noble held her hands to her face to hide from the world around her.

The redhead tensed when she heard footsteps from behind her, Nanna tried desperately to wipe her face clean in the most inconspicuous way possible and sniffled as lightly as she could. Nanna refused to turn toward the being behind her, though; she knew not who it was and would not risk embarrassing herself further. She flinched when a hand touched her shoulder, but the hand stayed in its spot and felt warm and comforting.

"Nan," she knew the voice, but was surprised to find they would come to comfort her at this time. "It is truly horrid what has been done. I…I am in shock that Lady Sif would take credit for something she has not done…she has never done so before."

"Oh, but she has…" Nanna spat venomously, "She's taken credit for my work more times than I can count and it is all for the wrong brother…"

"Wrong brother?"

"She wishes to win Thor…everyone in Asgard knows that, all but Loki, and he is the one being deceived by her 'kind' actions of giving him attention she does not wish to reward him with, and taking name for gifts she would never have truly given him." Nanna babbled all she had felt in the short time of coming to the ceremony this night. "She is rotting his heart away before he can even realize it, and when he does….he will deny it, and continue to pine for her when he should only wish her away!"

"You love him, then?"

"Ha!" Nanna laughed in hurt, "I do not only love him, I live for him…he is all I want and need in the world and I have known so since our first meeting! But he has never felt that way for me, and I fear he never will." Nanna turned to her momentary companion, her fellow redhead stared down at her sadly, "Voltstagg…what am I to do?"

"I know not…" the slightly older Asgardian murmured before he took the sorrowful girl into his arms. The duo stood there for several moments before Nanna lightly pushed him away, her face was morphed with an expression of determination and hurt. Voltstagg knew what that look meant, as well; for the length of time that she had known Loki, she had known Voltstagg through Thor and due to the shared want of food the redheads had—they had bonded when in one another's company. "Nan, don't force yourself to do something…"

"Who's forcing themselves to do anything, Vol?" Nanna murmured, her voice laced with barely hidden pain. The young noble turned to reenter the castle, and Voltstagg followed closely behind her as he visibly worried about his young comrade.

"What are you planning to do, then?" he inquired pointedly, reaching out to grab her arm and force her to face him. "You are only going to hurt yourself more by doing something so rash!"

"I don't care!" Nanna snarled, ripping at Voltstagg's hand to free herself. By this time, they were beginning to gain a small audience, and Loki was one of the members. Upon seeing his friend being manhandled, as it seemed, the young prince made a move forward before he stopped himself. He did not know what made him stop, but he could not force himself a step more towards the friend he had known for most of his life.

Nanna glanced to the side and saw that Loki was there and he was watching. She froze in her struggles as she realized that he was not coming to her aid as he once would have. Nanna's heart crumbled as her thoughts turned to how she must be unworthy of him and how Sif was still poisoning him against her. The girl dropped limply to the ground, giving up for the first time in her life and feeling the need to purge herself of the feeling immediately after.

When she hit the ground, Loki came forward and went to Nanna's side. As he reached to touch her, Nanna lashed out and snarled at him to leave. He looked at her in confusion to which she snapped that Loki should return to his love, the one whom had given him such a lovely gift.

"Why are you so jealous of Lady Sif?" Loki requested petulantly, he had never seen Nanna act so unattractively before.

"Jealous?" she laughed, looking at her prince, "Why Highness, I have no reason to be jealous! I could never obtain you! I'm not worthy of you! I can't believe that I once thought all these years our friendship was a lie, you only pitied me, didn't you?" the heart-hurt teen continued to babble and sob at the raven haired boy before she pushed him away and turned to exit the whole hall. Looking back as tears dripped, once again, from her chin, and she murmured to Loki, "May your daggers serve you well."

Loki stared after her in shock before he slowly gained a scowl and stood quickly to return to his parents. As he stalked away, Loki's thoughts were filled with the expressions on Nanna's face as she had spoken to him, and the one that had stood out the most was the almost dead look in her eyes as she had bid him her farewell.

For the rest of the celebration, Nanna and Loki were completely split from one another. Voltstagg took it upon himself to notify Odin and Frigga of the happenings of the night, and the couple then told Nanna's own parents. Both mothers were near tears to hear the news, while the fathers were unsure of what to do.

"There must be some way to bring them together once again!" Frigga cried softly as she looked to her husband imploringly. Odin gave a hum as he thought before an idea came to him. He looked to his comrades and gave a small smirk.

"I believe that I have found our solution." He stated, and when the small group looked to him expectantly, he chuckled. Odin looked at his companions with a conspiratorial spark in his eye. "The First Hunt of Manhood."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the main characters. I only own the plot and my own OCs. Reviews would be most appreciated as long as they hold constructive criticism! Please enjoy!

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"Of course, you are!" Vidar laughed and clapped his daughter on the shoulder. He then turned and looked down the corridor leading to the foyer from Nanna's room. "I have already backed up your items for the journey!" the grin on his face was almost contagious, but his daughter's lips only twitched at the sight of it. Vidar frowned mentally as he saw the hurt that had lived in her eyes for near a month now.

"Father!" Nanna whined, though she walked towards the foyer, "How could you?" the girl's voice held a small chuckle. Vidar gave a sigh upon hearing the laughter, and felt that Odin's idea would, perhaps, be victorious.

Soon enough, the father and daughter were riding to the spot in which every man departed when he left for his first hunt upon the end of his ceremony. Nanna looked up to the sky and grinned slightly upon seeing the beautiful blue; it had been gone for most of the month and had prolonged Loki's first hunt. When they made it to the spot, there was no other person in the clearing in front of the forest. Nanna scanned the trees before them looking for any beast that may be lurking; upon seeing nothing, the redhead climbed down from the horse and spotted something that made her eyes light up.

Once Vidar dismounted, he looked around for Nanna and laughed when he saw the young teen climbing up an apple tree. The thing was full of ripe apples and the girl was already stuffing a bag full of the fruit. He walked towards her spot and looked up to her, he then called, "Might you come down for a moment when you are done stuffing you bag and face?"

"Mmf?" she looked down at him with an apple hanging from her mouth and her hands working to stuff a few more apples into the already full bag. Nanna then rolled her eyes and tied the bag before she hopped own from her perch; quickly jogging over to her horse, the young noble attached it to her saddle. "Warm-up training?"

"Warm-up training." Vidar confirmed with a smirk. He then turned and walked to his horse and grabbed his favorite weapon; Nanna looked upon it with admiration. The minute her father motioned for Nanna to take the weapon, the teen looked up at him in disbelief and shakily moved her hand forward to grasp it.

Not too far from the spot, Loki and his party were making their way to the clearing. Thor was there and speaking cheerily, loudly, with his friends while Loki rode his horse quietly, looking down at the back of the horse's neck. Odin rode beside the boy and watched with a somewhat concerned frown that was hidden by his thick beard.

"Are you well, son?" the Allfather questioned quietly. Once the deep voice met with Loki's ears, the raven haired teen looked up in a small shock and turned to face his father.

"I am well, Father." Loki murmured; it was a half-truth. Ever since the ceremony, he had repeatedly heard Nanna's parting words. Her broken tone had haunted him, and know he was tormented with the thought that his closest friend would not be here with him.

Odin watched his youngest son's face contort into faintly agonized face and knew what it was the boy was thinking of. With a sigh, Odin murmured to his boy again, "What occurred between you and Nanna? Before that night, you two were inseparable…"

"I know…" Loki whispered dejectedly; the young prince's hand gripped the reins harshly. He had reviewed the events in his mind many a time since that night, and he could still find nothing that would have been able to upset the young woman but the other noble that had attempted to court her. "I know not what I could have been responsible for to upset her, but I will be working to compensate for her pain."

Odin nodded as he thought proudly that Loki, did indeed, seem to hold Nanna dearer to his heart than just as a childhood friend. The Allfather hoped dearly that this plan of his worked and would actually bring the duo back together.

"Father!" Thor's voice called loudly. Odin looked up quickly, suddenly afraid of what might have happened to his friend in the wait. Upon viewing the clearing, though, Odin saw that there were many, young trees that lay about the ground. Scanning the clearing and straining his ears, Odin chuckled when he heard Vidar's voice echo excitedly.

"Listen closely, now, boy." The Allfather advised as he clicked his tongue to urge the horse to move a bit faster. When the royal group turned the corner, they saw Nanna standing there with a silver poleax in hand and Vidar speaking to her with a proud undertone in his voice.

"Now then," the seasoned warrior began as he crouched down and went to his daughter's level. "Swing again and put your whole being behind it. And once you return form the hunt, you and I will work on defending yourself and better maneuvering with Ragna, understood?"

"Yes, Father." Nanna nodded quickly as she readied herself for the task. Her golden gaze locked onto the tree before her, the redhead shifted her feet into battle-ready stance. With a battle cry, the young noble swung the weapon with her whole being and the blade ran straight through the tree before her in a smooth motion.

Once the tension of the blade breaking through the bark was gone, Nanna stopped the movement of the ax. Her whole body froze and she turned her gaze to her father, looking for criticism or praise—whichever left his lips first. The teen jumped in shock when she heard another voice boom through the clearing.

"My, what strength you have gained, Child." Odin praised as he looked at the downed tree and to the barely panting girl who looked back at him with wide eyes. Nanna straightened herself and bowed to him, thanking him for his words. When she righted herself, the redhead looked to her father and smiled at him excitedly; never before had anyone, other than her father, praised her for taking interest in battle and fighting.

"Good to see you, Highness." Vidar greeted as he clasped hands with Odin, both men smiled knowingly at one another. While the adults conspired with one another, Nanna looked to Thor and Loki with a concealed glance and flinched when she heard Thor begin to mock her. Gritting her teeth, the redhead only walked to her horse and reached into the apple bag to grab one; once she had obtained a rather large apple, she threw it lightly in the air—testing the weight and how hard it smacked her hand upon impact.

"Have you had any fruits yet today, Prince?" Nanna inquired with an airy voice. Thor stopped his laughter and sat in confusion, his face away from the girl; as he thought of his answer, Nanna turned to face him. She took aim and sent the apple flying towards the blond oaf. Laughter raked her body when the fruit made contact with his head and literally exploded upon the impact.

Thor turned to the lower noble with a furious expression painted across his features. He moved quickly to go at the female, but he was swiftly stopped by Sif. Thor looked at her incredulously, "What do you think you are doing?"

"Why lower yourself to her standards, Thor?" the black haired woman inquired with a diplomatic voice. Nanna snorted in a most unladylike manner and crossed her arms while leaning on the poleax that was nearly twice her size.

"What standards? His are already lower than mine when he feels the need to throw his title around to gain whatever he wishes to possess." The redhead jeered. She then turned her attention away from the couple and looked passed Loki to Voltstagg, "You have second breakfast, yet?"

The young man looked to the fuming prince and glaring lady warrior before he answered hesitantly, "Actually, I have not." When he saw Nanna reach back into the sack she had pulled the apple from, Voltstagg readied himself and caught the fruit she had thrown his way. Looking at it, he smiled; the apple was near perfectly ripe and beautifully red. "I thank you."

"Think nothing of it, friend." The girl murmured as she mounted her horse once again and whistled for it to move to the tree line. Looking back to the group, the young noble sneered, "Are the higher classed beings ready to get a little dirt on their finery?"

"Entering without us, are you?" Vidar called as he appeared on his horse, Odin following behind him. His daughter looked to him and stated that she had assumed that they would not be traveling with the group of teens. Both men looked to one another then to her, Nanna had assumed correctly.

Upon hearing the news, Thor threw a fit and had to be forcibly calmed down by Odin. The rest of the group was shocked, but made no move to argue the decision made by the Allfather. Nanna patted her mare's neck as they both waited for the party to get ready to enter the forest; with a loud sigh, Nanna turned and looked a—still arguing—Thor in the eyes and snapped, "If we do not move quickly…by the time we enter the forest, the most dangerous of the beast will be out and hunting. If we wish to leave today, it needs to be done now."

The blonde shut his mouth with a nearly audible click and looked to his brother who was sitting on his stallion with a most uninterested expression painted along his features. But within his mind, Loki was watching Nanna closely; he noticed that the girl was sharper with his brother than usual and regarding most everyone with only the most standard respect and emotion. In his stomach, though, a flame burned lightly as he made mental note of how abnormally friendly Nanna was with Voltstagg.

Loki blinked in surprise when he saw Nanna trot over to her father and reach into one of his saddle bags; the man watched his daughter with a smile and chortled once he saw what she retreated with. The redhead then put on the harness that seemed a bit too big for her current stature, but Nanna obviously did not care and fastened everything to where it needed to be. Once all was set and good, the young noble placed the poleax into its spot on her back.

Attraction was an undeniable feeling that flooded through Loki as he stared upon Nanna; she had always been attractive when she was readying herself for a fight. Nanna seemed to exude a feeling of strength and gameness for whatever she was about to face. Her golden gaze zoned in on him, and Loki felt his body stiffen slightly and was promptly filled with an emptiness when he realized that she was not looking upon him like she once did, like he was a friend—at the moment, she looked at him as if he was like the other noble boys. Like he was one of the other noble boys that Nanna spoke and worked with, and Loki could not understand why it brought such pain to his heart.

"Are we leaving now?" Nanna grumbled as she mounted her horse once again, looking back to the others. Voltstagg clicked his tongue and nudged his heels into his steed's sides to urge the creature forward. Fandral and Hogun followed their comrade, leaving the two princes and Sif to sit for a moment before they, too, began to move and follow the young girl acting as the expedition leader.

For the first several hours, Thor and Sif rode towards the back of the group and grumbled to one another; they were both rather insulted that Nanna had taken the lead from them, along with being able to boss them into doing what needed to be done. Sadly, by this time, Thor was beginning to grow bored with riding silently and having nothing to kill or claim victory over. When the prince began to complain aloud about that feeling, Nanna turned to look at him from over her shoulder and snorted at his impatience; the redhead then looked around at their environment and called that they would be able to make a small stop soon enough.

"Why can we not stop now?" Thor voiced haughtily, Fandral and Sif chiming up behind him. Nanna looked at the three with a critical eye and sneered.

"Oh, absolutely!" She crooned, clasping her hands together and placing them over her heart as she stared at them with mock affection, "Let us stop. Let's just leave the horses to go without drink…along with ourselves as there is no river or stream near us! Royalty is tired and must be obeyed at all times!" Nanna spat on the ground directly after the last word left her mouth, the foul taste of her sarcasm and disgust for Thor's attitude still upon her taste buds.

Wild was the only way to describe the way Nanna looked at the moment as she scowled petulantly at the Crowned Prince. If possible, her wild locks seemed to raise like the hackles of a wolf, though they only flowed over her shoulders marginally after having grown out slightly since Loki's ceremony. Nanna then snapped her head forward and ushered her mare to begin walking again; with concern in his eyes, Voltstagg hurried up to ride alongside the young noble.

Loki watched on with a burning in his stomach as he thought about how it should be him riding beside Nanna and not one of Thor's lackeys! The boy's lips tightened and his eyes narrowed, but he made no move to go near either of them—that was, before Sif and Thor began to speak to the boy.

"Loki," Sif hummed as she saddled up beside the younger prince; the raven haired boy looked to her with a well hidden blush and widened eyes. She grinned at him in a flirtatious fashion, "Why don't you punish her a bit? She's been so disrespectful all day, you know?"

"Well, that was mostly to Thor," Loki replied, his voice holding an inkling of confusion, "Why should that bother me? Half the time, he deserves what she says to him." Unbeknownst to Loki, when those words left his mouth, Sif glared at the boy with the flames of Hell burning in her eyes. Sif absolutely hated when anyone attempted to bad mouth Thor!

"B-but when she disrespects your brother," the black haired maiden began shakily, trying to think of any reasoning that Loki could possibly believe. "Does that not mean that she is disrespecting you in the long run?" Sif knew she was failing when Loki looked at her with an air of indifference. The girl raked her mind for any form of a plan to get the trickster to turn on his only friend when the plot hit her. With a voice that she absolutely hated using towards Loki, the voice of someone in love, Sif murmured heartbrokenly, "Don't you see what she's doing to us, Loki?"

"What?" Loki's expression immediately turned to shock when he heard what his crush was saying to him, and the boy began to stammer questioningly to the slightly older female. Triumph coursed through Sif's veins when she realized she had Loki in her clutches to use as she wished; with a hidden, nasty smile, Sif leaned towards Loki's ear and whispered her plan to him. Loki looked at her with a hint of uncertainty until Sif batted her eyelashes.

Loki then turned to face Nanna's back, his emerald eyes seemed to glow as he began to murmur a spell under his breath. The boy's hands moved slightly along with his incantation, and his facial features along with his body language was tight, uncomfortable. In the back of his mind, Loki did not want to do what he was currently working on. His concentration was broken when he heard a shriek from in front of him.

Nanna's mare had reared up as two wild cat-like creatures stalked towards the redhead's steed. The young noble was bucked from her spot and sent to the ground harshly; she landed on her right arm awkwardly. Loki flinched the he had been hit when he heard the pained breath that Nanna sucked in through clenched teeth; his emerald orbs locked in on her form as she stared down the best he had summoned.

In Nanna's mind, she was panicking. These creatures could easily try and go for the horses and then the others in the group. The young warrior was raking her mind for something that she would be able to do to keep the others save. Nanna groaned quietly when she put weight onto her right arm to push herself up into a crouch slowly, drawing the creatures' attention to her being. Behind her, the others were concerned—all but Thor and Sif, who were both watching with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

"Why is she not crying and screaming for help?" Thor hissed to Sif as she sat beside him, and the young female warrior could only give an uncertain shrug in answer. The blond looked to see that Nanna made to grab a dagger from her belt and as she moved, the redhead made hissing noise at the best, as if she was keeping their focus on her. It was as that thought swam through his consciousness that Thor realized that that was exactly what Nanna was attempting to do.

Nanna then quickly swiped at the beast closest to her, which caused it to lunge at her with deadly intentions. The young noble quickly blocked the beast with her right arm, she tried to muffle her cry of pain as its fangs sunk into her flesh and moved her left hand to stab the monster through the skull. When it fell limply onto her, Nanna shuffled out from beneath it and glared at the other beast with determined, golden orbs. The brute left alive stared her down in return before it began to pace left to right and back; Nanna kept eye contact and shifted weight from one foot to the other all the while keeping a firm grip on the bloody blade in her hand.

Loki watched in horror, he had not meant for the beasts to become real! They were meant to be no more than illusions to scare Nanna, but that had gone terribly wrong when his concentration was broken. The raven haired boy sat there, frozen on his stallion, at the sight of Nanna's blood. Yes, he had seen her bleed before, but never so profusely and never because of him. Emerald orbs flittered around as he attempted to think of something to do before Nanna was injured far worse than she was at the moment. Just as he was about to begin another small chant, an arrow came rushing by his ear and buried itself in the last beast's eye. When it cried out in pain and was momentarily distracted, Nanna made her move and stabbed the thing in the neck.

Once all was done, Nanna stood there panting, blatantly ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, and she then began to look around the area carefully. She had no idea if there were any more creatures out there and she needed to make sure that she kept Loki and the others safe. Looking back behind the group, Nanna saw one of her training companions standing by a tree; his bow was held loosely in his hands and he stared at Nanna with concern as he quickly made hi way over to the young noble.

"Are you alright, Nan?" the boy asked, and Loki felt something in him twitch unattractively when the girl smiled at the boy like he was the greatest thing in her life.

"I am as well as can be expected, Tore." Nanna murmured before she looked at her arm and experimentally touched certain spots. She flinched and bit down harshly on her lip when a horrid shock of pain raked through her body. Frowning deeply, Nanna looked to Tore and inquired softly, "Do you think you could watch my party for a while? I must leave to tend to this wound, I have not the supplies needed to deal with it and I would rather not end the young Lord's hunting trip earlier than need be for something as trivial as myself."

Upon hearing Nanna speak about herself as such, Loki ground his teeth in frustration and anger. Never had he thought of Nanna as such, and his attention was ripped from the bleeding redhead to the murmurings of Sif and Thor. His temper flared when he heard his brother congratulate Sif on the success of her plan, and further more when the girl gave a shaky thanks and then went on to say, "I must admit, though, that this was much easier than acting like I had gotten him that gift."

Loki could swear that at that moment, his heart turned to ice. He finally understood why the girl was so upset with him and at his Ceremony. The young prince berated himself mentally as he watched the redhead mount her mare with difficulty. Going unnoticed by his brother and his former fancy, Loki clicked his tongue softly and guided his steed towards Nanna. Once he was beside her, the raven haired boy gulped; Loki had never been one for apologies.

"Can I help you?" she murmured to him, giving the prince a side glance. Her lips were pulled into a tight line, but Loki was sure that was only due to the redhead feeling the need to hide her pain. His emerald orbs locked onto the offending appendage and he flinched as if he had been struck; Loki felt like a rock had taken homage in his stomach and was anchoring it down.

Loki looked up to the bloody arm and murmured incoherently to the limb. Nanna looked at the boy in slight confusion, not really being able to understand what he had said; when the young noble stated this, Loki looked up at her with a pained expression that she had not seen him bare since their childhood.

"I am sorry…" he mumbled louder, his voice breaking slightly. Tears were clouding his vision as he was sure that he had broken Nanna, she was never going to want him again because he had been such an idiot! Emerald orbs gazed beseechingly at the redhead as he inquired brokenly, "Can you ever forgive me for the wrongs I have done you?"


End file.
